Barefeet NZ set to look after Kiwi soles

Barefeet NZ set to look after Kiwi soles

20 August, 2014

With New Zealand Fashion Week in the sights of many of the nation’s most well-known designers, models and fashionistas, there’s no better time to rummage through the wardrobe and take a look at what’s in there and evaluate how much is really needed to get by.

From 22 August to 31 August, 2014 Barefeet NZ is asking locals to drop off shoes – old or new, big or small - to Botany Town Centre. Knowing that there is a real shortage of shoes for many kiwis, sisters Kesh Rauf and Elisha Jithoo created Barefeet NZ as a result of having too many shoes themselves and not knowing what to do with them all. Launched this year, Barefeet NZ is about to enter its first ever collection drive, with one of four collection points across Auckland and Hamilton being the Botany Town Centre visitor’s desk.

Co-founder of Barefeet NZ – and self-proclaimed shoe fanatic - Kesh Rauf, said she was initially apprehensive about giving away her shoes, but realising they would go to people who were in real need and could actually make a difference in somebody else’s life made them that much easier to part with. “At the end of the day we need to look out for one another and it’s this value that is at the heart of Barefeet NZ. We have already been blown away by the support of locals and the genuine ‘kiwi heart’; from children to local businesses who have contacted us about doing their own collections, it’s something we are so happy to see get off the ground as it’s something that benefits everyone involved.”

With women’s shoes going to Dress for Success and all other shoes being donated to homeless shelters and refugee centres in the Auckland and Hamilton areas, there are visions for Barefeet NZ to have a national presence in years to come.

What: Barefeet NZ collection week
Where: Botany Town Centre visitor’s desk
When: 22 August – 31 August, 2014

Click here for the Barefeet NZ Facebook page.

ENDS

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